I am just about to order the HR906 solder station / hot-air rework combo from sparkfun, but I have a few questions:
The HR2738 ( a more expensive unit) is for lead-free soldering. Would I be making a mistake to not consider this option?
Both the HR2738 and HR906 produce the same amount of heat for iron and hot-air, so what is the real difference?
Lastly, why is the HR852 more than the HR906 when it is lacking an iron? Does the digital option really make all that much of a difference in price?
Links for products:
HR906 - http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc … ucts_id=76
HR2738 - http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc … cts_id=609
HR852 - http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/produc … ucts_id=74
I’m ordering the HR906 tonight. I’m sure it will work out.
I’ll post my comments when it comes.
I found some more information:
I appears lead-free solder has a melting point ranging from: 118C to 240C depending upon composition.
There is a decent list on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder#Lead-free_solder
The station I ordered, the HR906, goes from roughly 200C to 480C so it will handle lead-free solder.
I suppose there are other variables that come into play, but the HR906 will hopefully serve me well!
I have had the HR906 for a few months now and it is great! As soon as it arrived I started reworking an old ASUS PC-motherboard for practice.
I have been able to “hot-air off” and “re-solder on” every kind of Surface
Mount part on that board.
I was even able to solder a QFN32 chip (the atmel AT86RF230), although I have yet to test it due to my pcb being “wrong”.
This is a great unit. I am very satisfied!
I’d recommend it to anybody thinking about getting a station.
Props to sparkfun for providing the best tutorials and videos on the internet.
-Ben